The two runways, main (28/10) and third (29/11) of the Delhi airport are equipped with CAT-III B instrument landing system (IlS), which allows a compliant aircraft to land even when the runway visibility drops below 50 metre. However, no take-offs could take place during this time as the minimum runway visibility range (RVR) required for an aircraft to take-off is between 125 metre and 150 metre as per the aircraft’s size.
To avoid schedules going haywire due to fog, airport operator DIAl has this year introduced Delhi Airport Collaborative Decision Making (DA-CDM). Airport operators, airlines, ground handlers and air traffic control (ATC) collaborate and share data through automated system to increase overall airport efficiency, to reduce delays and congestion, and smooth flow of flight information to passengers. However, this proved to be of little help to the fliers on Monday.